Massachusetts Route 1A

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Route 1A
Route information
Maintained by MassDOT
Length	95.120 mi[1] (153.081 km)
Existed	by 1927–present
Major junctions
South end	US 1A in Pawtucket, RI
Major intersections	I-95 in Attleboro I-495 in Wrentham US 1 in Dedham I-93 / US 1 / Route 3 in Boston I-90 / Mass Pike in Boston Route 128 in Beverly US 1 from Newburyport to Salisbury
North end	NH 1A in Seabrook, NH
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate US State
← US 1 → Route C1

Route 1A is a north–south state highway in Massachusetts. It is an alternate route to U.S. 1 with three signed sections and two unsigned sections where the highway is concurrent with its parent. Due to the reconfiguration of tunnel interchanges brought on by the completion of the Big Dig, Route 1A is discontinuous in the downtown Boston area. Vehicles entering Downtown Boston via the Sumner Tunnel must take I-93 north to the exit for Government Center and make a U-turn to access the entrance ramp to I-93 south (which silently carries Route 1A south as well) and vice versa.^[2]

Route description[]

Rhode Island border to Attleboro[]

A short segment of Route 1A, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) in length, in Attleboro runs from U.S. Route 1A at the Rhode Island border through a junction with Interstate 95, before heading north and merging with Route 1. The entire length of this segment is known as Newport Avenue.

North Attleborough to Dedham[]

This segment of Route 1A extends roughly north from North Attleborough to Dedham, passing through the towns of Plainville, Wrentham, Norfolk, Walpole, Norwood and Westwood on the way. Prior to its realignment along I-95 and I-93, Route 1 continued north along the Providence Highway towards Boston at the junction of Route 1A and that road.

Boston to Salisbury[]

Veterans Memorial Bridge entering Beverly

This segment of Route 1A extends from Boston, Massachusetts to Salisbury, Massachusetts.

The highway starts from US 1 (which is on the Central Artery with I-93 and Route 3) at the former Government Center/Logan Airport interchange. It passes through the Callahan Tunnel (outbound/northbound) and Sumner Tunnel (inbound/southbound), becoming the East Boston Expressway past Logan Airport. The East Boston Expressway was the first freeway built in the city. Immediately beyond Logan Airport, Interstate 90 ends at Route 1A.

The road continues as a divided highway through Revere. It is a limited access highway through Revere, passing Suffolk Downs and the Wonderland Greyhound Park (which is across the street from the outer terminus of the MBTA's Blue Line), before running through the isolated Point of Pines neighborhood and exiting Revere over the into Lynn. For the first mile and a half in Lynn, it is concurrent with the Lynnway, and is a high-traffic retail area. After the Lynnway portion, the route becomes concurrent with Route 129 for a mile, before crossing into Swampscott as Paradise Road. At , it passes into Salem as Loring Avenue, passing by Salem State University. The route turns left onto Lafayette Street and is concurrent with Route 114. At the intersection with Derby Street, notable for the large fire station, the route turns right. At the next stop sign, the route turns left onto Hawthorne Boulevard passing Salem Common and the Salem Witch Museum before turning left onto Winter Street. At the end of Winter Street, the route turns right onto Bridge Street crossing the Veterans Memorial Bridge into Beverly. It follows two of the main streets of downtown Beverly, before heading north, passing through Wenham and Hamilton (through this section the road is occasionally signed as a US Route) before becoming the main road through the town of Ipswich, crossing the historic Choate Bridge over the Ipswich River. While in Ipswich, much of the route runs concurrently with Route 133 until just over the town line into Rowley. It passes through the main village of Rowley, as well as the central villages of Newbury. In Newburyport, Massachusetts, it merges with Route 1, signed with its parent highway over the Merrimack River and into the town center of Salisbury. It then heads east from the Salisbury town center before turning north and ending in Salisbury Beach at the New Hampshire border. New Hampshire Route 1A continues north from this point.

History[]

Initially, Route 1A ran along part of its present-day route between the New Hampshire state line and Revere. It then turned west along present-day Route 16 until it ended at US 1 (now Route 99) in Everett.^[3] Then, in 1931, an interchange in Revere was built over Route 107 (Broadway).^[4] In 1933, another, disconnected portion of Route 1A appeared between Attleboro and the Rhode Island state line.^[5] In 1934, two changes were made to the route. In Revere, the route was realigned to turn west smoothly. Between Boston and North Attleborough, a huge portion of Route 11 and all of Route 150 were replaced by Route 1A.^[6] The new portion soon got truncated to Dedham in 1936.^[7] It then got truncated even further to end at US 1/Route 128.^[8]

Later history[]

After Route C1 was decommissioned in 1971 in favor of a new alignment of US 1, Route 1A was truncated to a roundabout interchange in Revere. As a result, Route 16 extended eastward along the then-former route.^[9] After all unbuilt Boston freeways were cancelled by 1973, US 1 was rerouted onto the Northeast Expressway (formerly proposed I-95). As a result of that, Route 1A was extended south towards the Sumner/Callahan Tunnels and then north along Central Artery towards US 1 (Storrow Drive).^[10] In 1989, US 1 was rerouted from Storrow Drive onto I-93's Southeast Expressway, causing "signed" Route 1A to get truncated.

Major intersections[]

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Bristol	Attleboro	0.000	0.000	US 1A south – Pawtucket	Continuation into Rhode Island
		0.412	0.663	I-95 – Foxboro, Boston, Providence, RI	Exits 2A-B on I-95
		1.637	2.634	Route 123 – Attleboro, Brockton, Valley Falls, RI
		1.728	2.781	US 1 south	Southern terminus of unsigned concurrency with US 1
	See US 1 mileposts 2.4–7.0
	North Attleborough	7.109	11.441	US 1 north – Boston	Northern terminus of unsigned concurrency with US 1
Norfolk	Plainville	7.981	12.844	Route 106 east to US 1 – Mansfield, West Bridgewater	Western end of Route 106
	Wrentham	10.634	17.114	I-495 to I-95 – Cape Cod, Lowell	Exit 38 on I-495
		11.375	18.306	Route 121 south – Woonsocket, RI	Northern end of Route 121
		12.840	20.664	Route 140 – Franklin, Foxboro, Taunton
	Norfolk	15.091	24.287	Route 115 – Foxboro, Norfolk, Millis
	Walpole	19.70	31.70	Route 27 – Walpole, Sharon, Stoughton
	Dedham	27.144	43.684	Providence Highway to I-95 / US 1 / Route 128 – Boston, Providence, RI	Formerly US 1, south end of silent concurrency with Providence Highway and then US 1
See Route 128 exits 29-26 and I-93 exits 1-17B
Suffolk	Boston			I-93 north (US 1) / Route 3 north (Storrow Drive) – Government Center	Northern terminus of silent concurrency with US 1; exit 17B on Central Artery
				Haymarket Square	Northbound entrance only
				Sumner (southbound) / Callahan (northbound) Tunnels
		49.482	79.634	East Boston	Access via Porter Street
		49.677	79.947	Logan Airport
		50.023	80.504	I-90 / Mass Pike west to I-93 south – Williams Tunnel	Eastern end of I-90; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		50.305	80.958	Route 145 north (Bennington Street) – Winthrop, Chelsea	Interchange, southern end of Route 145
	Revere	52.487	84.470	Route 145	Interchange, northbound exit and southbound entrance
		52.852	85.057	Route 16 west / Route 60 west – Malden, Lynn, Revere Beach, Chelsea	Eastern end of Routes 16 and 60; To US 1 via Route 60 and Route 145 via Route 16
Essex	Lynn	55.843	89.871	Lynnway east – Nahant, Swampscott
		58.018	93.371	Route 129 west – Lynnfield	Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 129
		59.167	95.220	Route 129 east – Swampscott, Marblehead	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 129
	Salem	62.554	100.671	Route 114 east – Marblehead	Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 114
		63.326	101.913	Route 114 west	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 114
		64.250	103.400	Route 107 south – Lynn, Malden	North end of Route 107
	Danvers River	64.933	104.500	Essex Bridge
	Beverly	65.447	105.327	Route 22 north / Route 127 north	South end of Routes 22 and 127
		66.242	106.606	Route 62 – Danvers, Beverly Farms
		67.699	108.951	Route 97 north – Topsfield	South end of Route 97
		67.897	109.270	Route 128 – Gloucester, Rockport, Peabody, Boston	Exits 45A-B on Route 128; cloverleaf interchange
	Ipswich	75.603	121.671	Route 133 east – Essex	Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 133
	Rowley	79.754	128.352	Route 133 west – Georgetown	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 133
	Newburyport	88.395	142.258	Route 113 west – West Newbury, Groveland	East end of Route 113
		88.588	142.569	US 1 south – Danvers, Boston	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 1, southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Salisbury	90.879	146.256	US 1 north / Route 110 west – Amesbury, Merrimac, Salisbury Beach	Northern terminus of concurrency with US 1, east end of Route 110
		95.120	153.081	NH 1A north to NH 286 – Hampton	Continuation into New Hampshire
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

References[]

External links[]

Route map:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Massachusetts Route 1A.

• Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation - Boston's First Expressway
• East Boston Expressway - Historic Overview